Banning Of Brave New World Research Paper

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, is a dystopian fiction novel that is deemed extremely controversial by the public for its way of presenting new ideas to the audience. In this novel, subjects considered taboo such as, familial relationships, individuality, drug use, promiscuity, and eugenics, are explored in an almost disturbing manner. Some people feel as if this novel should be banned due to the influence of these sensitive topics. Nonetheless, it’s crucial to consider the severity of these themes as well as the appropriateness of banning this novel. The “Brave New World” introduces a futuristic, almost utopian, way of living. In this world, traditional concepts of family, morality and individuality, are replaced by a tyrannical government

This genetic engineering would harshly undermine the need for familial relationships in the novel. Eugenics, is defined as “the study of how to arrange reproduction within a human population to increase the occurrence of heritable characteristics regarded as desirable.” This taboo subject is the first of many that is presented in the novel. In the novel, babies would be genetically engineered solely for the purpose of fulfilling predetermined roles within their society. The idea Nataly Gonzalez English, Period 4 3/22/24 of natural selection isn’t one that is present within the society of this novel. In the first chapter, character Mustapha Mond explains, “All conditioning aims at that: making people like their unescapable social destiny." This quote highlights his understanding of how people are conditioned to accept the roles chosen for them, since birth. Drug use is another taboo topic introduced in this novel. Drug use is extremely encouraged by the government of this world. For that reason, this world is confined to the use of a drug labeled as “soma.” To use the word “confined” here is appropriate, seeing that the people of this society are always using

In the third chapter, John states, “Half a gramme for a half-holiday, a gramme for a weekend, two grammes for a trip to the gorgeous East, three for a dark eternity on the moon." This quote helps the reader understand the normalization of the drug soma and also suggests how the government has manipulated all of society into addicted to this drug. This is a huge contrast to the “old world” where the use of certain drugs had legal repercussions. Nataly Gonzalez English, Period 4 3/22/24 Promiscuity is the last taboo subject within the novel that will be touched on in this essay. Promiscuity is also extremely normalized in Brave New World, where monogamous relationships are viewed as old-fashioned, or as they say in the novel, from the old world. In the old world, being promiscuous would have you labeled as indecent or even filthy, and monogamous relationships were favored. Instead, intimate relationships are shown as casual or simply just entertainment. This demonstrates the values of commitment and how this culture prefers physical pleasure over genuine emotional